About Me

Love my family and my faith .. love being creative ... love the beach and sand between my toes ... love to read ... love where we live on the South Coast of New South Wales .... love exploring the great outdoors .... travel and tropical islands .....

Sunday, January 28, 2018

I spent a couple of days in Sydney last week looking after Jonah who had tonsillitis .... not much fun for him but it was fun for me .... He still managed a smile despite a very sore throat .... all better now though !!

While he was sleeping I managed a little bit of work on my canvas work piece .... it is a Sue Hawkins design but I'm changing it a little so hopefully it will become a pincushion/scissor keeper ....

Jonah has become a very confident walker very quickly .... this was actually in the Doctors surgery last week

Luckily he was well enough for Elliott, Andrea and he to come down for the long weekend ! Here he is decked out in a green and gold flower lei which we found !!

Elliott introducing his son to lamingtons for the first time !!!

Surfing with Elliott ....

Bike riding fun with the cousins .... Jed and Clay ....

Last night was a warm night for a great outdoors barbecue .... these three little cousins had fun together !

And this morning before they headed back to Sydney, we enjoyed breakfast at Duke & Co. in Milton to celebrate Andrea's birthday which falls in the middle of this week !

Great news also to share that we will be grandparents again in early June when Elliott and Andrea are having their second baby .... much excitement ....... so Jonah will become a big brother !!!

Sunday, January 21, 2018

After finishing off my Shepherds Bush Christmas Stocking, I was looking for a little bit of different stitching for a change so I came across this Sue Hawkins design for a spectacles case which I started to stitch the other night .... I love the colours and always love a bit of canvas work .... but I think I will change it a bit and make it into something else ....We are just back from a lovely weekend in Sydney celebrating 40 years yesterday since we met on a blind date .... obviously that blind date went well because here we are still together 40 years from the day we met ... we had a beautiful meal at LONGRAIN in Surry Hills on Friday night ....

When we met we had lunch at a cafe down near Circular Quay so we went back down yesterday morning to have a coffee there but it was all boarded up for renovations so we settled for the next best thing ... breakfast by our beautiful harbour ... pretty special backdrop there !!

There was a big cruise liner in at the Circular Quay port (I think it was the one my friend Tracey hopped off the night before??) ....

After breakfast we wandered around past the Opera House and through the Botanical Gardens .... there was a harbour swim on just beside the Opera House which was spectacular with 100s of swimmers on such a beautiful day .... perfect weather ....

We celebrated with lunch at TETSUYAS in Sydney .... simply spectacular and very very special ...

I know food photos are boring for some but everything was so beautifully presented .... it was all a work of art ....

It was a looooonnnngggg lunch ..... but we really loved it ...... then had to walk around the city for a couple of hours to walk it off .... such a special weekend indeed !!

So now we are back at home ...... have enjoyed a swim at the beach and a relax this afternoon after the hectic pace in the city .....

Monday, January 15, 2018

I have really enjoyed stitching this latest Shepherds Bush Christmas Stocking ("Richard") and I decided, after Davey suggested it, that it would be for me !

And so it became "BIC BIC's" stocking .... he said we both needed one .....

So ..... I finished the stitching, added the charms, added the name and put it beside the one I made for him to see how they looked .... a great pair I think !!

My grandchildren call me BIC BIC and they call David DAVEY .... my nickname from my dad when I was little was "BICKY" (because apparently the first word I said was "Bicky" and "Chocolate") and it has stuck .... he still calls me BICKY and Jed's version of that became BIC BIC .... so I guess that has stuck forever now. My mum is Cookie to her grandchildren (as in Cookie Monster) so I'm think BIC BIC is quite OK with me !!

I love the finished version .... lined with a nice maroon Christmas print and bound with the same fabric .... now on to the next one .... with 4 children, 4 wives & husbands to each of those children, and 3 grandchildren (so far) I think I better get cracking if they are all to have one for Christmas 2018 !!

Sunday, January 14, 2018

First week back at work has been a bit hard to handle, but Wednesday was made very special with my two little grandsons at home with me .... Here is Jed with the Lego rescue helicopter which we spent 3 hours building on Wednesday .... he was pretty pleased with our efforts !!

Elliott was sent back to Sydney with some home grown passionfruit last weekend, so he has sent us this picture of Jonah enjoying the passionfruit in yoghurt ... and everywhere else too !!

We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast this morning at Tallwood .... a great restaurant north of where we live .... my granola, yoghurt, berries and sliced apple was delicious !!

And I have now finished the stitching on my second Shepherds Bush Christmas Stocking. This one is titled "Richard" but I have made it for .......... you will have to wait and see my next post !! I have just to add the charms and buttons and the name ... then sew it together ....

I was very fortunate during this week to be gifted this beautiful old Singer sewing machine which now sits on top of my grandmothers Singer sewing machine ... it was owned by someone very special and her husband kindly gifted it to me .... I feel very blessed .... thank you ! xxx

Monday, January 8, 2018

I had hoped to complete this next Shepherds Bush Christmas Stocking before heading back to work tomorrow, but the weather has been so lovely, I have been distracted by the beach and family and a bit of other stitching .... however good progress has been made and I'm already planning the next one !!

I was surprised to see this orchid blossom this morning in our spare bathroom .... needless to say I don't go in there very often so it was a pleasant surprise !!

I had completed stitching this Sue Hawkins canvas work piece which I have already stitched once before, and it just needed putting together so I have also managed to finish that in the last couple of days ....

And here is a gorgeous photo of Andrea, Elliott and Jonah that they sent today .... we are going to miss all these little grandchildren running around ..... it will be a very quiet week here ..... and so that sees the end of these Christmas/New Year holidays ... it has been lots of fun, but sadly we head back to work tomorrow .....

Sunday, January 7, 2018

We have had some beautiful beach weather here on the south coast .... so nice to enjoy our holidays at the beach before heading back to work this week.Here are Sam, Jonah and Elliott in Sydney last week .... walking the beautiful walk from Manly to Shelley Beach !

Jed and Clay spent a late afternoon looking for crabs and playing in the beach pools at the beach the other day and Tim took some of these great shots....

Being dragged around in the shallows is such fun !

Ash must have taken this one with Tim pulling the kids around in the shallows ....

And as the sun went down and the frisbee was in mid flight ....

Today was another glorious day enjoy the water which is such a beautiful temperature at the moment !!

Just back from the beach yesterday and Elliott snapped this shot of David and I on his new phone !

Headstands on the paddle board are always a challenge .... Elliott !!

Looking forward to our last day of holidays tomorrow before going back to work on Tuesday ....